When little girls dream of growing up to look like their favorite celebrities and  Barbie dolls, I’m not so sure they know it means becoming plastic. Suddenly, beauty means having Botox, a butt lift and breast implants.

     As everyone’s favorite celebrities are lifting, latexing and liposuctioning their bodies, the world is watching…and learning.

     With today’s social media and celebrity presence, people are being pushed into wanting to look a certain way. 

      So, this is the reason Courtney Cox can barely move her face. The famed “Friends” star has plugged half her face with filler, becoming more polymer than person. In an interview with New Beauty, Cox opened up for the first time about regretting a procedure she had done. 

     “I grew up thinking that appearance was the most important thing. That’s kind of sad because it got me in trouble. I was trying so hard to keep up, and I actually made things worse,” she said.

     Cox isn’t the only one. Bella Hadid told Vogue that she wished she had “kept the nose of her ancestors.” Permanent decisions are being made based on temporary beauty standards, and it shows. People feel pressure to conform to these impossible standards and don’t think things through all the way. According to Dermaconcepts, 64 percent of women feel pressure to maintain their appearance.

     Models like Jordan Barrett have completely changed their face shapes, which leaves a lasting impact on their fans.

     “I think [plastic surgery] helps with insecurities, and I also think that it helps girls align with the beauty standard because I feel like the beauty standard is plastic surgery nowadays,” senior Veronica Sarkis said. “I think not aligning with it makes people stand out because all of the people that do conform.”

     But the beauty standards are changing rapidly. In the 2000s, everybody wanted to be thin, toned and tanned. Now, people wish for hourglass shapes and bubble butts. But is plastic surgery actually harming anyone? Great question.

     CNN reported that Botox can actually make parents look emotionally flat. Limiting the range of expressions young children — who are extremely attentive to facial expressions — are exposed to also limits the amount of emotion that can be communicated to them.

     But when society is telling women every day that they only matter when they’re young, no wonder they’re doing everything they can to avoid aging. 

     “I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that it freaks me out,” senior Josh Barritt said. “It just really makes me uncomfortable. I think if it’s a minor thing, like a nose job or something small, I don’t have a problem with it. But you’ll see some celebrities that just get surgery after surgery, and that’s just gross to me.”

     It’s one thing when people get surgery to help them feel better about themselves, but when they’re changing everything about themselves to fit someone else’s idea of what they’re “supposed” to look like, it’s an entirely different thing.

     “I think plastic surgery promotes unrealistic beauty standards because it’s making other people aspire to a goal or to be something that they just aren’t,” Barritt said. “And I don’t think that’s healthy for anybody involved.”